Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Tough decision

I am faced with some very hard decisions at the moment. There is something I desperately want but don’t think I will get it. Ok, that’s not completely true. I have it, just not where I want it. Yes, I am picky!

I want a house here like no one’s business. I own a house, just not here. The house I own is ideal for me. It is on the size block I want, has 3 bedrooms, a good sized lounge, kitchen is good size, it has a rumpus room, it is fully fenced and the backyard has a separate fence again. All the aspects I want in a house. It is old and needs work for it to be my dream home, but it checks all my basic boxes. It does not check my BIG box though. Location.

It is located somewhere I vowed never to return to live. I frequently go there to see friends and family, but I did not want to live there EVER again. As such, my house is on the market so I can buy here.

Problem is I am not so sure I want to settle here and the house prices are RIDICULOUS. I would be adding $100,000 to my mortgage to buy here, even after the money I will make off my house! That is an insane amount of money.

I visited my house on the weekend and wanted to cry. I live in a 1 bedroom unit and here’s a house, I OWN (well, I am paying it off!) My unit would fit in the front part of my house. If I lived there my kids could play outside. I could have chickens. I could have a vegetable garden. I could have the life I want except for one thing.

It would not be where I want it to be.

If house prices where I currently live dropped drastically, I’d buy in a heartbeat. I am not willing to part with $500,000 for a house that needs work though. Sorry, won’t do it. If I am spending that on a house it better be the best house needing NO renovations or work whatsoever!

Which brings me to my hard decision; should I just move back to somewhere I never wanted to live again or should I suck it up and keep renting here until I can buy here?

I wrote out a pros and cons list for each, but won’t post it coz some of the reasons are very personal. Basically, I don’t want to live in the area my house is in, but every other aspect of my life would be better there.

I think one of the big things preventing me from deciding is pride. I don’t want to turn around and do something I said I never would. I don’t want to leave a really nice area to move back to a nowhere near as nice area.

The area I am talking about is not heaps bad. It has some rather undesirable areas and is dirtier than where I live now. I feel like a bit of a snob talking about it in this way. I guess I am. I did like many aspects of living there when I did, there were others that I did not.

One good thing is that lots of things that were completely awful when I lived there have drastically changed and are not the same anymore. They are much better and would not be a problem for me. Also I have grown up more and know better how to handle different situations. (Family situations that I will not give more detail on).

I do think that moving here 2 ½ years ago was the right decision as lots has happened in that time that I could not have dealt with living there.

It’s a big decision that I will be thinking about a lot. If I moved back it would only be until my eldest goes to high school. I don’t want her going to high school there. But by that time I plan to have our house paid off and be financially free, so will be able to live where I’d like. I am thinking I need to sacrifice living where I want now so I can live where I want when they are older and it is more important to me.

Any suggestions or opinions?


  1. Hmmmm. Tough one. I always go with my gut feeling in the end.

    Ok. That probably wasn't very helpful :-)

  2. There's a reason that real estate is all about location, location, location... it's the most important thing. I don't think you should move back to somewhere you obviously don't like just because it's cheap. If I could afford it, I would take on the extra $100,000 mortgage now - prices never drop in good areas - and commit to paying it off as quickly as I can. What else is our money for but to live the life we always wanted? What else would you spend your money on that's more important than your home?

  3. It's a really tough choice but I would probably sell the house in the bad location and save like crazy to buy in a good location.